
THE 



Battle of Fort Stedman 

(PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA) 

MARCH 26, 1865 



THE 



Battle of Fort Stedman 

(PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA) 

MARCH 2&, 1865 



WILLIAM H. HODGKINS 

Thirty-sixth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers ; Brt'-net Major 

U.S. Vols. ; Staff of Third Division Ninth 

Army Corps 



BOSTON 

PRIVATELY PRINTED 
1889 



INTRODUCTORY. 



The following narrative, which was originally prepared 
for publication as a magazine article, has far exceeded 
the ordinary limits of such a paper, and is now printed 
as one more, though slight, contribution to the " Litera- 
ture of the Civil War." The writer served on the Staff 
of General John F. Hartranft, Commanding Third Divi- 
sion, Ninth Army Corps, and was a witness to, and par- 
ticipant in, the battle. In addition to very full private 
data, he has had access to several reports not yet printed. 
He acknowledges his obligation to Generals Parke, Hart- 
ranft, Willcox, and Tidball for very valuable information 
relating to the battle ; and especial thanks to Comrade 
Francis W. Knowles (Company B, Thirty-sixth Massa- 
chusetts Volunteers), Chief Clerk at General Willcox's 
(First) Division Headquarters, for a drawing of the val- 
uable map which accompanies this narrative, and for 
interesting details from his personal diary and retained 
copies of papers. 



PETERSBURG. 



Long years have swiftly passed away, 

In Time's unceasing flight, 
Since last I saw those fields of woe. 

Where Wrong resisted Right. 

The pulse is quickened, and the brain 

With recollection teems, 
Of sad and tenderest memories. 

Like some forgotten dreams. 

Once more I see the busy camps, 

With white tents far and near ; 
Long vanished scenes, familiar sounds. 

Again greet eye and ear. 
I hear the squadron's measured tramp, 

I see the bayonet's glare : 
The music of the fife and drum 

Comes floating in the air. 

The sentry's beat, the picket post. 

The skirmishers I see. 
The battle line, the thrilling charge — 

Hear cheers of victory. 



But all is calm and peaceful now 

On those historic lines. 
And sadly blows the Southern wiml, 

Sweet-scented with the pines ; 
Chanting a solemn requiem 

O'er slumbers most profound 
Of those who fell and sweetly sleep 

In consecrated ground. 



HON. J. W. MOKRISON, 
100th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. 



''■"'3' 



THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 



The event known in the history of the Rebellion as 
the " Battle of Fort Stedman," which was fought March 
25, 1865, in the lines near Petersburg, Virginia, has re- 
ceived at the hand of the general historian only brief 
and inadequate notice. This is owing in a large degree 
doubtless to the fact that the momentous events attend- 
ing the final campaign of the armies under General 
Grant's immediate command, beginning only four days 
later, which resulted in the destruction of the Army of 
Northern Virginia and the downfall of the Confederacy, 
have overshadowed in the public mind the brilliant en- 
gagement at Fort Stedman. It has been regarded simply 
as an episode, — a bold dash upon, and speedy recovery 
of, a line of entrenchments, having no special significance, 
and but little direct or material bearing, upon the cam- 
paign which followed. 

Whatever may be the verdict of history upon this 
point, the fact remains that, considering the numbers of 
the troops that took part in it, it was one of the most 
important engagements of the late war, and fully attained 
to the dignity of a battle. Had it occurred during any 
other campaign or at any other period, ur as an isolated 



8 THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 

event in the long siege of Petersburg, it would have ac- 
quired prominence in the annals of the war. 

It was the last desperate thrust of the Army of North- 
ern Virginia before the agonies of its dissolution ; and as 
a fair offset to the disaster which befel the Ninth Army 
Corps at the battle of the Mine in the same locality 
eight months previous, it is worthy of extended descrip- 
tion, and to a more prominent position in history than it 
has yet attained. 

In Union histories and reports this interesting action 
is known as the " Battle of Fort Stedman " (though often 
erroneously called " Steedman " and " Steadman "), while 
in Confederate accounts it is designated the " Battle of 
Hare's Hill." 

Fort Stedman was situated on Hare's Hill, two miles 
from the centre of Petersburg,, at the point where the 
Union entrenchments crossed the Prince George Court- 
house road. It formed a part of the Confederate position 
which was captured by the troops of the Second Corps 
in the general assault on the evening of June 16, 1864. 
It was named in honor of Colonel Griffin' A. Stedman, 
of Hartford, Connecticut, Colonel of the Eleventh Regi- 
ment Connecticut Volunteers, Brevet Brigadier-General 
U.S.V. He commanded a Brigade in Martin dale's 
(Second) Division, Eighteenth Army Corps, and was 
actively engaged in the attacks upon the defences of 
Petersburg, June 15-18, 1864. On the 18th of June, 
after three days of fighting, his brigade occupied the 



THE BATTLE OF FORT S TED MAN. 9 

extreme right of the Union lines stretching from the 
Appomattox river on the right to a point near the 
Petersburg and C\tj Point Railroad on the left. The 
gallant conduct of the brigade and its commander elicited 
merited praise. On the 21st of June the Second Corps, 
which had occupied a position between the Eighteenth 
and Ninth Corps, was withdrawn, and the ground 
vacated was occupied by the Eighteenth Corps extend- 
ing to the left, and the Ninth Corps to the right. Colonel 
Stedman's Brigade held the line at Hare's Hill, connect- 
ing with the Ninth Corps. It is a singular coincidence 
that the extension of these corps united temporarily the 
troops of the old Ninth Corps, which had been separated 
since March, 1863, when the then Third Division, in 
which was the Eleventh Connecticut, was sent to Suffolk, 
Virginia, and ultimately joined the Eighteenth Corps, 
while the First and Second Divisions were transferred, 
with their commander. General Burnside, to the Depart- 
ment of the Ohio, and subsequently to the Army of the 
Potomac. 

Colonel Stedman was mortally wounded on the 5th of 
August, 1864, and died tlie following day. In commem- 
oration of his gallant services the fort at this point re- 
ceived his name. 

It occupied the main eminence of the ridge. On its 
immediate left was Battery Eleven, a small ravelin for two 
guns. From the left of this battery extended a curtain 
which connected it with Battery Twelve, a nearly square 



10 THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 

redoubt mounting four Coehorn mortars. To the left of 
Battery Twelve, on high ground, about three-eighths of a 
mile from Fort Stedman, was Fort Haskell, a strong forti- 
fication mounting six guns, besides mortars. The pan 
coup^^ of Battery Eleven was nearly on the crest of a 
ridge which, on the one side, was the water-shed of Harri- 
son's creek wdthin our lines, and on the other was the 
water-shed of a creek flowing through the enemy's lines, 
but obstructed by them, and forming a pond in front of 
and to the left of Battery Eleven. This last creek was 
formed of two confluents, at a point near our picket lines, — 
one flowing through the railroad culvert from the enemy's 
side, the other through our lines to the left of Battery 
Eleven, these two branches both rising from opposite sides 
of the same hill, on which stood Fort Haskell. 

Fort Stedman was projected as a salient toward the 
Confederate lines. It was a comparatively small work 
without bastions, covering about three-fourths of an acre 
of ground. In the fort and around it, in rear, was a 
grove of large shade-trees which had been allowed to re- 
main. The fort had formed a part of the enemy's de- 
fences, and, like all our position on this portion of the 
lines, was originally gained by our troops under fire. It 
was not compactly built in the first place, and had been 
considerably weakened by frosts and storms, and the par- 
apet had greatly settled during the winter. Its nearness 

' Pan coupe — The short length of parapet by which the salient angle of a work 
is sometimes cut off. (Mil. dictionary.) 



THE BATTLE OF FORT ST ED MAN. 11 

to the enemy prevented even the slightest repairs except 
in the most stealthy manner, as any attempt to strengthen 
it was stoutly resisted. The fort had a comparatively 
small line of infantry parapet, particularly in front, 
which was cut with embrasures for artillery. It was pro- 
tected in front by abatis and various obstructions. 

On its immediate right, and forming almost a part of 
the fort itself, was Battery Ten, an open work, mounting 
four guns. Next in the line was Battery Nine. On the 
right the hill declined rapidly toward the plain, and the 
ground was low and wet. The position at this point com- 
bined many disadvantages. The frequent rains rendered 
the hollow very muddy, and the underground bomb-proofs 
were more or less full of water continually. The works 
were in an incomplete state, owing to the unfavorable na- 
ture of the ground and the exposure to a most annoying 
and constant picket fire which rendered it very unsafe to 
traverse the lines. A line of parapet connected Battery 
Nine with Battery Eight and Fort McGilvery, the first 
fort on the left of the Appomattox. Fort Stedman was 
distant from the river about seven-eighths of a mile, and 
from the Friend House about one mile and a half. Meade 
Station, the nearest point on the military railroad, was 
one mile in rear. 

On the continuation of the ridge upon which Fort Sted- 
man stood, towards Petersburg, was located the strongly 
fortified position of the enemy at Spring Hill, called Col- 
quitt's Salient. The batteries in and around this position 



12 THE BATTLE OF FORT ST ED MAN. 

mounted twenty guns of various calibres. A formidable 
triple row of chevaux-de-frise protected it from assault. 
In rear was a road twenty feet wide, in a broad deep 
ravine, in which great numbers of troops could be massed ; 
and the road was continued as a completely covered way 
as far as Blandford, a suburb of Petersburg. To the right 
of Stedman and to the left of Colquitt's the lines receded 
from each other, the race-course \j'n^g between them. It 
will be seen that the salients and posts of honor at this 
portion of the lines were Colquitt's Salient and Batteries, 
Fort Stedman, and Batteries Eleven and Twelve. An at- 
tack to the right of Stedman would expose troops to an 
enfilading fire on the plain ; to the left of Stedman, to the 
difficulties of watercourses and ravines.^ The distance 
from Battery Ten to the point of the enemy's line (Col- 
quitt's Salient), immediately opposite, was only six hun- 
dred and thirteen feet between the main works, the shortest 
distance between the two at any point, excepting at Elli- 
ott's Salient (the locality of the Mine). The picket lines 
were only four hundred and thirty-five feet apart; those of 
the enemy being only a few feet in front of his main 
works ; one of the Union pickets was separated only two 
hundred and five feet from his opposite neighbor. Gen- 
eral Grimes, who afterward led the assault on Fort Sted- 

' For a portion of this description of the locality the writer is indebted to the re- 
port of Colonel Thos. Wm. Clarke, Twenty-ninth Regiment, Massachusetts Vols., 
to the Adjutant-General of the State, 1865. Colonel Clarke was A.A.A.G. of the 
brijjade occupying this ground. 



/ 



y 



THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 13 

man, in a letter to his family, says the lines " are so close 
that you can almost see the whites of the Yankees' eyes." ' 

The crest upon which Stedman stood was commanded 
in the immediate rear by two hills of nearly equal height, 
— the Dunn House hill, seven-eighths of a mile distant, on 
which stood the Dunn House Battery and Fort Friend ; 
and the Friend House hill, one mile and a quarter distant, 
a little east of north. Both these hills were partly forti- 
fied, and artillery covered the rear and flanks. Between 
these hills and the main line were several detached, 
deserted works which had been thrown up by both armies 
during the early battles around Petersburg; these had 
been left standing by the Union Army, and, as we shall 
see, were destined to play a conspicuous part in the Battle 
of Fort Stedman. 

On the 29th of November, 1864, the Ninth Army Corps 
was ordered from its camp near Peeble's Farm, on the left 
of the army, where it had been located during the autumn, 
and marched to the right, to occupy its former position 
in the blood-stained trenches fronting the city of Peters- 
burg. The First Division, Brevet Major-General O. B. 
Willcox, commanding, was placed on the extreme right, 
and occupied the trenches from the Appomattox river 
to Fort Meikle. The Second Division, Brevet Major- 
General R. B. Potter, commanding, extended the line 
from that point to Fort Howard, — the two divisions 

' Extracts of letters of Major-General Bryan Grimes to his wife. Raleigh, 
N. C, 1884, page 98. 



14 THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 

covering a front of more than seven miles. The three 
brigades of the First Division were disposed as follows: 

The Second, Colonel Ralph Ely, commanding, held the 
right from the river to near Battery Nine; the Third, 
Brevet Brigadier-General N. B. McLaughlin, commanding, 
from Battery Nine to the left of Fort Haskell ; the First, 
Colonel Samuel Harriman, Thirty-seventh Wisconsin Vol- 
unteers, commanding, from that point to Fort Meikle. 
The front covered by this division was more than three 
miles in length. 

The Third Division, composed of six new regiments of 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, commanded by Brigadier- Gen- 
eral John F. Hartranft, was in reserve, — a brigade in 
rear of each division in the trenches. His headquarters 
were at the Avery House. His regiments were encamped 
as follows : Two Hundredth Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel 
William H. H. McCall, comm'anding, near the Dunn House 
Battery ; Two Hundred and Ninth Regiment, Lieutenant- 
Colonel George W. Frederick, commanding, on the high 
ground near Meade Station ; Two Hundred and Eighth 
Regiment, Colonel A. B. McCalmont, commanding, near 
the Avery House. These regiments constituted the First 
Brigade, commanded by Colonel Charles W. Diven, Two 
Hundredth Regiment. The Second Brigade, Colonel 
Joseph A. Mathews, Two Hundred and Fifth Regi- 
ment, commanding, — comprising the Two Hundred and 
Fifth, Major B. M. Morrow, commanding. Two Hundred 
and Seventh, Colonel Robert C. Cox, commanding, and 



THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 15 

Two Hundred and Eleventh Regiments, Captain William 
A. Coulter, commanding, — lay in rear of the Second Divis- 
ion line between Forts Alexander Hays and Howard, — 
the latter regiment being posted near Fort Prescott. 

The Artillery of the Ninth Corps was commanded by 
Brevet Brigadier-General John C. Tidball. The Reserve 
Artillery was camped near Meade Station. 

The Ninth Corps was ably commanded by Major-Gen- 
eral John G. Parke, whose headquarters were about one 
mile from the Avery House. 

Forts Stedman and Haskell were garrisoned by detach- 
ments of the Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery, 
Major George M. Randall, commanding, acting as in- 
fantry. The mortar batteries in all that portion of the 
lines were manned by the First Connecticut Heavy 
Artillery. The Light Artillery and mortars from 
Battery Nine to Fort Haskell were stationed as fol- 
lows : — 

Battery Nine, two light twelves ; Batteries C and I, 
Fifth United States Artillery, Capt. Valentine H. Stone, 
and two Coehorn mortars, Lieut. Azro Drown ; Battery 
Ten, two 3-inch rifles, Fourteenth Massachusetts Light 
Artillery, Lieut. Ephraim B. Nye, and three Coehorns 
and four 8-inch mortars, Capt. Jno. M. Twiss and Lieut. 
Jno. Odell ; Fort Stedman, four light twelves of Nine- 
teenth New York Light Battery, Capt. Edward W. 
Rogers; Battery Twelve, four Coehorns and two 8-inch 
mortars, Lieut. Robert Lewis ; Fort Haskell, four light 



16 THE BATTLE OF FORT S TED MAN. 

twelves of Third New Jersey Light Battery, Brevet- 
Major Christian Woerner, and four Coehorns, Lieut. W. 
H. H. Bingham. 

The Thirty-fourth New York Light Battery, Brevet- 
Major Jacob Roemer, commanding, had been stationed in 
Fort Friend, in rear of Fort Stedman, but on the evening 
of March 24th was placed in Fort McGilvery, exchanging 
positions with the Eleventh Massachusetts Light Battery, 
Brevet-Major Edward J. Jones, commanding. 

The winter of 1864-5 had been severe and trying to the 
waning fortunes of the Confederacy. General Sheridan's 
successes had ended the campaign in the Shenandoah 
Valley, and the armies had been withdrawn from it. 
General Hood had been overwhelmed, and his army 
scattered by the victory attending the campaign of Gen- 
eral Thomas in front of Nashville ; and ever and anon 
tidings of the onward and' victorious march of General 
Sherman's army had been heralded to the Army of 
Northern Virginia in double-shotted salutes of one hun- 
dred cannon, as one after the other, in quick succession, 
— Savannah, Charleston, Columbia, and Wilmington, — 
had fallen. 

That commander was then closing around the army 
of General Johnston in North Carolina, preparatory to 
the final struggle. The outlook was dark and foreboding. 
The number of deserters from General Lee's army in- 
creased daily. The return of spring was to usher in a 
great campaign. The trains sent to the left were filled 



THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 17 

with supplies and troops, as General Grant continued to 
mass heavily in the direction of Lee's right. To the 
soldiers of Lee's army the rumble of these heavily loaded 
trains was like the muttering of thunder before the burst- 
ing of the storm. 

As the season for active operations drew near, General 
Grant became uneasy. General Badeau says : " Grant 
had now spent many days of anxiety lest each morning 
should bring the news that the enemy had retreated the 
night before. He was firmly convinced that the cross- 
ing of the Roanoke by Sherman would be the signal for 
Lee to leave ; and if Johnston and Lee were combined, 
a long and tedious and expensive campaign, consuming 
most of the summer, might be inevitable. His anxiety 
was well founded, for during Sherman's delay the rebel 
commanders were conferring in order to effect a junc- 
tion." 

Accordingly, on the 24th of March, only the day before 
the action we are about to notice, he had issued orders for 
a general movement to the left on the 29th, with the pur- 
pose to destroy the Danville and the Southside railroads, 
turn Lee's right, and force him to abandon his entrench- 
ments. 

Jefferson Davis says : ^ "In the early part of March, 
. . . General Lee held with me a long and free confer- 
ence. Hs stated that the circumstances had forced on him 
the conclusion that the evacuation of Petersburg was but 

» The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Vol. II., p. 648, et seq. 



18 THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 

a question of time. ... To my inquiry whether it 
would not be better to anticipate the necessity by with- 
drawing at once, he said that his artillery and draught 
horses were too weak for the roads in their then condition, 
and that he would have to wait until they became firmer. 
. . . The programme was to retire to Danville, at 
which place supplies should be collected and a junction 
made with the troops of General Johnston, the combined 
force to be hurled upon Sherman in North Carolina, with 
the hope of defeating him before Grant could come to his 
relief. . . . General Lee was averse to retiring from 
his enemy. He had so often beaten superior numbers, 
that his thoughts were no doubt directed to every possible 
expedient which might enable him to avoid retreat. It 
thus fell out that, in a week or two after the conference 
above noticed, he presented to me the idea of a sortie 
against the enemy near to the right of'his line. This was 
rendered the more feasible, from the constant extension of 
Grant's line to the left, and the heavy bodies of troops he 
was employing to turn our right. The sortie, if entirely 
successful, so as to capture and hold the works on Grant's 
right, as well as three forts on the commanding ridge 
in his rear, would threaten his line of communication 
with his base. City Point, and compel him to move his 
forces around ours to protect it ; if only so far successful 
as to cause the transfer of his troops from his left to his 
right, it would relieve our right, and delay the impending 
disaster for the more convenient season for retreat." 



THE BATTLE OF FORT S TED MAN. 19 

A sortie against Fort Stedman having been decided 
upon, Mr. Davis continues : " For this service, requiring 
equal daring and steadiness, General John B. Gordon, well 
proved on many battle-fields, was selected. His command 
was the remnant of Ewell's Corps, troops often tried in 
the fiery ordeal of battle, and always found true as tem- 
pered steel." This was the " Stonewall " Jackson Corps, 
which had been recently withdrawn from the Shenandoah 
Valley, and posted on the right of General Lee's army. 
On the 10th of March this corps was transferred to the 
trenches around Petersburg, for the purpose, as General 
Gordon states,* of enabling him to carefully examine the 
lines and report to General Lee the practicability of break- 
ing them at any point. He says : " Within a week after 
being transferred to this new position, I decided that 
Fort Stedman could be taken by a night assault, and that 
it might be possible to thi-ow into the breach thus made 
in Grant's lines a sufficient force to disorganize and destroy 
the left wing of his army before he could recover and con- 
centrate his forces, then lying between the James and 
Appomattox rivers. 

"General Lee, after considering the plan of assault and 
battle which I submitted to him, and which I shall pres- 
ently describe, gave me orders to prepare for the move- 
ment, which was regarded by both of us as a desperate 
one, but which seemed to give more promise of good re- 
sults than any other hitherto suggested. General Lee 

» The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, page 650. 



20 THE BATTLE OF FORT STED3IAN. 

placed at my disposal, in addition to my own corps, a por- 
tion of A. P. Hill's and a portion of Longstreet's, and a 
detachment of cavalry, — in all, about one-half of the 
army. 

" The general plan of the assault and battle was this : 
To take the fort [Stedman] by a rush across the narrow 
sj)ace that lay between it and Colquitt's Salient, and then 
surprise and capture, by a stratagem, the commanding 
forts in the rear, thus opening a way for our troops to pass 
to the rear, and upon the flank of the left wing of Grant's 
army, which was to be broken to pieces by a concentration 
of all the forces at my command moving upon the flank. 
During the night of the 24th my preparations were made 
for the movement before daylight. I placed three ofiicers 
in charge of three separate bodies of men, and directed 
them, as soon as the lines of Fort Stedman should be 
carried by the assaulting column, to rush through the gap 
thus produced to the three rear forts, — one of these 
officers and bodies to go to each fort, and to approach 
them from their rear, by the only avenue left open, and 
seize those forts. A guide was placed with each of these 
officers, who was to conduct him and his troops to the rear 
of the front [fort?], which he was to surprise. A body 
of the most stalwart of my men was organized to move in 
advance of all the troops, armed with axes, with which 
they were to cut down the obstruction of sharpened and 
wire-fastened rails in front of the enemy's lines. 

"' Next to these were to come three hundred men, armed 



THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 21 

with bayonets fixed and empty muskets, who were to 
mount and enter the fort as the axe-men cut away the 
obstruction of sharpened rails, bayoneting the pickets in 
front and gunners in the fort if they resisted, or sending 
them to our rear if they surrendered. Next were to cross 
the three officers and their detachments, who were to cap- 
ture the three rear forts. Next, a division of infantry 
was to cross, moving by the left flank, so as to be in posi- 
tion, when halted and fronted, to move without any con- 
fusion or delay immediately down General Grant's lines, 
toward his left, capturing his troops, or forcing them to 
abandon their works and form under our advancing fire at 
right angles to his line of works. 

" Next was to cross the cavalry, who were to ride to 
the rear, cut the enemy's telegraph lines, capture his pon- 
toons, and prevent or delay the crossing of reinforcements 
from beyond the Appomattox. Next, my whole force was 
to swell the column of attack. Then, as the front of our 
lines was cleared of the enemy's troops, our divisions were 
to change front and join in pressing upon the enemy, driv- 
ing him farther from the other wing of General Grant's 
army, and widening the breach." 

At a Council of War, in which the question of making 
an offensive movement and the capture of the opposing 
fort by a storming party was discussed, and the duties of 
the various officers assigned, a high tribute was paid to the 
courage of the Louisiana brigades. 

"'On account of the valor of your troops,' said 



22 THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 

General Evans to Colonel Waggaman, 'you will be 
allowed the honor of leading off in the attack.^ This you 
will make with unloaded muskets.' At three o'clock in 
the morning, Waggaman, who had been watching all 
night, silently awakened his men and moved forward out- 
side of the breastworks. In so doing his command, during 
the darkness and confusion, was cut in two by the march- 
ing of other Confederate commands. He passed out 
through Grade's Salient to the objective point of the 
Federal works, and the key of the position, towards the 
guns of Fort Stedman." "^ 

The picket officer of McLaughlin's Brigade, Captain 
John F. Burch, Third Maryland Volunteers, reports that 
he visited the picket line at four o'clock on the morning 
of March 25, and found the men wakeful and on tlie alert, 
after which he returned to his quarters in front of Fort 
Stedman. He states that, a few minutes after his return, 
a man on the lookout gave notice that the enemy were 
approaching, and at the same time the men on the post 
fired their muskets. Major Charles T. Richardson, the 
commanding officer of the Twenty-ninth Massachusetts 
Volunteers, on duty at Battery Eleven, states : " Existing 
orders from army headquarters encouraged the enemy to 

' Military Annals of Louisiana. New Orleans, 1875, page 39 et seq. 

2 These brigades, consisting of ten Louisiana regiments, composed two brigades, 
formerly known as Hays's and Stafford's Brigades. They were united under 
General York, aud were, at the time under review, commanded by Colonel 
Eugene Waggaman, Tenth Louisiana, and the former title, " Louisiana Brigades," 
retained. 



THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 23 

desert, and offered them payment for arras brought 
across ; " and " the multitude of deserters from the enemy, 
coming peaceably with arms, had caused some carelessness 
in this regard. On the morning of the 25th of March? 
deserters began, about three o'clock, to come across in 
considerable numbers, — too large to send guards with 
from the picket line, so that the officer of the guard di- 
rected them retained on the picket line, and roused the 
troops in Fort Stedman, sending word to Battery Eleven 
to be on the alert, as matters looked suspicious." ^ These 
pretended deserters gained possession of the picket line in 
overpowering numbers. They proved to be the skirmish- 
ers of the enemy, and were closely followed by the strong 
storming party of picked men ; this by the heavy columns 
referred to by General Gordon. The enemy advanced in 
three columns, — one toward the left of Battery Ten ; the 
second, to a point between Fort Stedman and Battery 
Eleven ; and a third, direct toward Fort Stedman. It is 
estimated that there were more than eight thousand men 
in these columns. The guard, though stoutly resisting, 
was unable to withstand this force. The enemy's left 
column was the first to break through, and soon gained 
Battery Ten. Here, as has been stated, were stationed 
two guns of the Fourteenth Massachusetts Light Battery, 
Lieutenant Nye, commanding, and a detachment of the 
First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, commanded by Captain 
Twiss, in charge of the mortars. No alarm had been 

^ Massachusetts Adjutant-General's Report, 1865, pp. 403-4. 



24 THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDAfAN. 

given here, and the assault was so sudden, that but one 
round was fired from each gun. It was so dark that foe 
could not be distinguished from friend, and at one time 
the enemy were firing a part of the guns and our men the 
others. The firing revealed the position of our men, and 
the cannoniers were immediately seized and thrown over 
the works into the ditch.^ Captain Twiss of the Mortars 
was wounded, Lieutenants Nye of the Artillery and Odell 
of the Mortars were killed at the guns, and most of the 
garrison were killed or wounded or captured. In the dark- 
ness and confusion several of the cannoniers made their 
escape to the Reserve Camp at Meade Station. The cap- 
ture of Battery Ten gave the enemy a wide opening on the 
right and rear, and great advantage over Stedraan, the 
ground just in rear being on a level with the parapet of 
the Fort, and they entered the sally-port almost undiscov- 
ered. From the four light twelv'e7pound guns a dozen 
rounds of canister were discharged into the enemy's ranks, 
and the battalion of the Fourteenth New York Heavy 
Artillery, under Major Randall, made a stubborn resistance ; 
but, being attacked in front, flank, and rear, was speedily 
overpowered and most of them captured.'' The situa- 
tion was fearful for several moments. As the enemy 
jumped into the enclosure where the defenders were now 
awake and stirring, such was the excitement and desperate 

* Report of Fourteenth Light Battery. Massachusetts Adjutant-General's 
Report for 1865, pap'e 757. 

^ Major Randall, with the regimental colors, made his escape, passed to the left 
among the works, and joined a battalion of his regiment in Fort Haskell. 



THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 25 

energy of the struggle, that the combatants fought, as was 
afterwards said, " as if they had drank two quarts of 
brandy." The fort was finally carried, though it was 
rough-and-tumble fighting ; the opposing soldiers being 
locked together like serpents. As defendants refused to 
surrender, they were knocked in the head with the mus- 
ket or bayoneted by the assailants.^ The guns in the 
Fort and Battery Ten were at once turned against the 
troops in our lines, and the enemy pushed along the en- 
trenchments to Battery Eleven, where the Twenty-ninth 
Massachusetts was encountered. Upon the sound of the 
firing this regiment had been aroused, and took its posi- 
tion in the line ; but the firing was so slight that, when the 
command was given to " fall in," the sentinel on the top 
of the parapet called out that there was " no attack." The 
pickets of this regiment could be seen standing quietly by 
their fires in the ravine below, apparently unaware that an 
attack had been made on the main line- Up to this time 
no general alarm had been sounded, and at this point there 
was no indication that the line had been broken, or that 
danger lurked in the rear. Suddenly the men in the right 
curtain commenced firing ; they were ordered to cease, lest 
they should shoot their own pickets, who had begun to 
come in. The latter order had hardly been given when 
Gordon's troops suddenly appeared in the rear.'' A des- 



1 Militaiy Annals of Louisiana. 

s Ilistoiy of Twenty-ninth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteei-s, page 328 W seq. 
There are discrepancies and contradictions in the published reports and histories 



26 THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 

perate hand-to-hand fight continued for fifteen minutes ; 
and after a very severe struggle, during which the regiment 
displayed staying qualities of a high order, and captured 
nearly twice as many prisoners as it numbered, the enemy 
succeeded in driving it out of the battery, capturing nearly 
all the defenders, while the remainder formed a line in the 
rear, partially closing the gap, and word was sent to brigade 
headquarters of the condition of affairs in Battery Eleven. 
The Brigade Commander, General McLaughlin, on hear- 
ing the firing, sent his staff to various portions of the line, 
and went himself to Fort Haskell, finding the troops there 
on the alert, ready to resist an attack. He then turned 
down the line to the right, passing the One Hundredth 
Pennsylvania, already in the works, and Battery Twelve, 
toward Battery Eleven, where he was informed by the 
commanding officer of the Twenty-ninth Massachusetts 
that the battery had been taken a*nd his regiment just 
driven out. He sent orders at once to the Fifty-ninth 
Massachusetts, a reserve regiment near his headquarters, 
and the only regiment of his brigade not in the lines, to 
report on the double-quick, and also ordered the mortars 
in Battery Twelve to be turned on Battery Eleven. As 
soon as the Fifty-ninth Massachusetts arrived, he ordered 
it and the remnant of the Twenty-ninth Massachusetts to 
charge with fixed bayonets, and they recaptured Battery 
Eleven at once. Supposing he had restored the only break 

of this affair. Where these conflict with the manuscript report of the brigade 
commander, the latter has been regarded as authority. 



THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 27 

in his lines, he crossed the parapet into Stedman, and 
meeting some men coming over the curtains, whom in the 
darkness he supposed to be his own men, he established 
them inside the fort, and gave directions about firing, which 
were instantly obeyed. In a few moments he saw a man 
crossing the parajoet whose uniform in the dawning light 
he recognized to be the enemy's. He halted him, to ascer- 
tain what regiment he belonged to. This called attention 
to himself, and in a moment he was surrounded by the 
enemy, whom he had supposed to be his own men, and 
was sent across the lines and conducted to General Gor- 
don, to whom he surrendered his sword, and was then 
taken to Petersburg. While he was standing by General 
Gordon, four brigades of the enemy moved forward to our 
works.^ About this time Brevet-Major Henry L. Swords, 
Division Staff Officer of the day, was sent by General Will- 
cox to General McLaughlin with orders. He went at 
once to Fort Haskell, but not finding him, galloped along 
the line of works, then deserted, to Fort Stedman, and 
upon attempting to enter rode into a mass of struggling, 
fighting men crowding out from the fort. They proved to 
be the enemy, and he was taken prisoner and sent across 
the parapet, where he also met General Gordon, and was 
afterward taken to Petersburg.* 

The enemy's left column turned to our right down the 
works toward Battery Nine, striking the flank of the Fifty- 

1 General McLaiifjlilin's manuscript report. 
* Letter of Major Swords to the writer. 



28 THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 

seventh Massachusetts, capturing a portion, and driving out 
the remainder, who retired out of reach of the fire, and, 
as we shall see, did good service afterwards. The Second 
Michigan was next encountered, but as this regiment had 
received warning, it was able to fight the enemy on this 
flank in a most spirited manner from their bomb-proofs and 
traverses. By order of Colonel Ely, brigade commander, 
the regiment was drawn into Battery Nine, which, though 
small, was an enclosed work. The artillery in Battery 
Nine opened a heavy fire upon the enemy's flank, and 
Colonel Ely hurried the First Michigan Sharp-shooters 
from his right and formed it at right angles with the line 
of entrenchments, where they fought with such success as 
to prevent any farther advance of the enemy in that 
direction, and the line of trenches vacated by the Second 
Michigan was for a considerable time unoccupied by either 
party.^ , 

While these startling events were happening on the 
front line, active and important movements were taking 
place in rear, which were destined to stem the tide of dis- 
aster and wrest victory from confusion and defeat. 

As nearly as can be determined from reports, despatches, 
and observation, the three commanders. Generals Parke, 

1 Lieutenant-Colonel Monier, commanding Tenth Louisiana, in his diary 
(published in " Militaiy Annals of Louisiana"), after describing assault on Fort 
Stedman, says : " An advance is now made toward Battery Number Five, and ar- 
rive within three hundred yards of it. Here the confident progress was arrested 
by large reinforcements reaching the enemy." The corps of sharpshooters of the 
Louisiana brigade led the attacking column. 



THE BATTLE OF FORT ST ED MAN. 29 

Willcox, and Hartranft, were made aware of the assault at 
about the same moment of time. They were immediately 
on the alert, and, comprehending the situation of affairs, 
took such active measures as were deemed necessary to 
expel the enemy and restore the breach in the lines. Gen- 
eral Willcox, as we have seen, despatched a staff officer to 
Fort Stedman, and communicated with his brigade com- 
manders. General Parke at once directed Brigadier-Gen 
eral Tidball, Chief of Artillery, to occupy all available 
ground with the Reserve Artillery, ordered General Will- 
cox to reoccupy the works taken, and General Hartranft 
to concentrate his division and reinforce General Willcox. 

He immediately telegraphed the condition of affairs to 
the Army of the Potomac headquarters, but receiving no 
reply, telegraphed again and again, with like result. In 
reply to his fourth despatch he was informed that General 
Meade was not at headquarters, and that the command of 
the army devolved upon himself. This was the first inti- 
mation he had received of the absence of General Meade, 
who was at City Point, in conference with General Grant. 
It being reported to General Parke that telegi-aphic com- 
munication with City Point was interrupted, he at once 
despatched a courier to that place to announce the state 
of affairs to Generals Grant and Meade. 

As we have already noticed, General Hartranft had two 
regiments encamped near the scene of the attack : the 
Two Hundredth Pennsylvania, near the Dunn House Bat- 
terv, and the Two Hundred and Ninth, at Meade Station. 



30 THE BATTLE OF FORT ST ED MAN. 

It being understood by Generals Willcox and Hartranft 
that, in case of an attack, in order to avoid delay in com- 
municating first with General Hartranft, owing to the great 
length of line covered by his command, the former should 
order these regiments wherever they might be needed in 
his line, General Willcox now sent orders for these regi- 
ments to move at once, — the Two Hundredth to the front 
of the Dunn House Battery, the Two Hundred and 
Ninth to the Friend House Hill. Meantime the enemy's 
skirmishers began to advance down the hill directly in 
rear of Fort Stedman, moving towards General Wilcox's 
headquarters at the Friend House, the Dunn House Bat- 
tery, and Meade Station ; and General Wilcox ordered out 
the Seventeenth Michigan, a small regiment detailed as 
engineers at his headquarters, for duty as skirmishers. 

Immediately upon hearing the alarm and the firing on 
the right, General Hartranft sent Captain Dalien of his 
staff from headquarters at the Avery House to General 
McLaughlin's to ascertain the cause of the alarm, and at 
the same time Colonels Diven and Mathews, his brigade 
commanders, were ordered to place their commands under 
arms ready for any emergency. Captain Dalien soon re- 
turned with a message from General McLaughlin's adju- 
tant-general,^ stating that " the enemy had carried the lines 
from Battery Eleven and Stedman to the right, and were 
moving toward the river." Within a few minutes he re- 
ceived an order from General Parke to " move his First 

1 Colonel Thomas Wm. Clarke. 



THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 31 

Brigade to reinforce General Willcox, in order to re-cap- 
ture a Battery reported to be captured near Fort Stedraan." 
He at once started in person to the right, and at the 
same time ordered the Two Hundred and Eighth Regi- 
ment to report immediately to General McLaughlin. He 
then proceeded to General Willcox's headquarters, arriving 
just as his two regiments, which had been ordered out by 
General AVillcox, were moving toward the points desig- 
nated by the latter. He found General Willcox, with his 
staff mounted, baggage packed, and headquarters tents 
struck, ready for a movement to the rear. He immedi- 
ately assumed personal supervision over his own command. 
General Hartrauft says : " While talking with General 
Willcox, our attention was called to the puffs of smoke 
issuing from the wood in the rear, and to the right and 
left of Fort Stedman. It was not yet light enough to see 
the enemy, nor could any sound be heard, owing to the 
direction of the wind, but the white puffs indicated mus- 
ketry firing." Being satisfied that this was an attack in 
force, and that time must be gained at any cost, General 
Hartranft determined at once to force the fighting, and 
not wait for the remainder of his troops to come up. At 
his request General Willcox detailed one of his staff 
officers, Brevet-Major L. Curtis Brackett, Fifty-seventh 
Massachusetts Volunteers, to lead the Two Hundred 
and Ninth Regiment by the flank down the road to 
the left of the Friend House, while he himself took 
the Two Hundredth Regiment, which was nearest at 



32 THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 

hand, to check the enemy, who were advancing with a 
heavy line of skirmishers, followed by an assaulting 
column or a line of battle, from the rear of Fort Stedman 
towards the ravine, and covering the main road leading to 
Meade Station and the Ninth Corps hospitals.^ General 
Hartranft found a small detachment of the Fifty-seventh 
Massachusetts in command of a captain (which, as we 
have seen, were driven out of their camp), deployed as 
skirmishers just in front of the Two Hundredth Regiment. 
It was at once ordered back to its camp, and the Two 
Hundredth followed to that point without serious loss, 
though under a sharp fire. Without losing any time in 
feeling the enemy or fighting his skirmishers, the Two 
Hundredth Regiment advanced in line of battle, breaking 
the enemy's line of skirmishers, and driving in those 
directly in front; but in the road leading to Meade 
Station, and in some old works beyond the road on our 
left, the line was strong and the enemy in force, and' the 
guns of Stedman, just captured and turned against the 
Union line, were on the right. General Hartranft sent 

1 General Grimes, commanding Gordon's Advance Division, says : " This 
morning [March 25] we charged the enemy's works and captured them, taking 
twelve to fifteen pieces of artilleiy and a good many prisoners. ... As 
usual, I captured a horse to ride during the fight, as I could not get mine over the 
breastworks. It would have done your heart good to hear the men cheer as I 
rode up and down the line urging them to do their duty." (Extracts of letters of 
Major-Geueral Biyan Grimes, page 98.) 

The horse referred to probably belonged to Major Randall. The artiUeiy 
was taken by being run over; the pieces were not removed from the line, but 
were recaptured later. 



THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 33 

Major Shorkley of his staff to bring up the Two Hundred 
and Ninth Pennsylvania from the ravine on the right, 
where it was partially hidden from the enemy's view and 
sheltered from his fire, his intention being to place this 
regiment on the right of his line. Without waiting for 
its arrival, he immediately attacked with the Two Hun- 
dredth Regiment; but finding the enemy too strong to 
be pushed, and the fire from the line and Stedman very 
severe, and the right suffering very badly, he was obliged 
to retire through the camp of the Fifty-seventh Massachu- 
setts, and take shelter in an old line of works about forty 
yards in its rear and toward the right. General Hartranft 
says : " From horseback at this point, the enemy's officers 
could now be plainly seen urging their men through Fort 
Stedman, and endeavoring to deploy them in rear." 
Fearful that the enemy seeing him withdraw the Two 
Hundi'edth Regiment would attack him, General Hart- 
ranft immediately led the regiment forward and attacked 
the second time. It promptly responded, and in the face 
of a galling fire in front and flanks it succeeded in gaining 
a commanding position where he could inflict some dam- 
age on the enemy. The advance of this regiment was 
gallant in the extreme. It was, like all of Hartranft's 
troops, a new regiment, for the first time under direct fire, 
and it was subjected to the severest test. It maintained 
its ground gallantly for more than twenty minutes against 
overwhelming odds, losing at this point more than one 
hundred men, but gaining invaluable time. The regiment 



34 THE BATTLE OF FORT ST ED MAN. 

became so shattered under the murderous fire that Gen- 
eral Hartranft ordered it to retire, and it fell back in good 
order to, and was again rallied in, the old line of works 
from which it had advanced a second time. The Two 
Hundred and Ninth Regiment, after strong opposition 
and considerable loss, had now pushed its way to his 
aid, and was placed by General Hartranft on his right, 
which was still farther extended by the deployment of 
the Seventeenth Michigan, prolonging his right to the 
Second Michigan near Battery Nine, which, as stated, had 
been reinforced and was now firmly held. With the aid 
of the Artillery in Battery Nine, and the two Michigan 
regiments of the First Division, he now had a strong line 
which would prevent any advance of the enemy in that 
direction. Seeing that he could accomplish nothing more 
with the force then in hand, and, being fully satisfied that 
this was not a feint on the part of the enemy, but a serious 
and determined attack, he ordered the troops to act on the 
defensive ; and after sending orders for liis Second Brigade 
to report, General Hartranft turned to inspect other por- 
tions of his lines. 

General Hartranft ^ says : " Fortunately, upon the line 
taken, the enemy could not easily deploy for the further 
advance to Meade Station and the railroad, the enfilading 
fires of Battery Nine and Fort Haskell forcing their troops 
into the bomb-proofs of the captured lines to the right and 
left of Fort Stedman, which were thus the only openings 

» General Hartranft in Philadelphia "Press," March 17, 1886. 



TUB BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 35 

for their columns to enter and deploy to the rear. Great 
credit is justly due to the garrisons of these two points 
for their steadiness in holding tliem in the confusion and 
nervousness of a night attack. If they had been lost, the 
enemy would have had sufficient safe ground on which to 
recover and form their ranks, and the Third Division would 
have been overwhelmed and beaten in detail by a greatly 
superior force. . . . The tenacity with which these points 
were held, therefore, saved the Union army great loss of 
men, material, and time, and enabled the Third Division 
to signalize itself by a brilliant feat of arms." 

In the check given the enemy at this point, where 
occurred the fiercest fighting of the day. General Hart- 
ranft received the active cooperation of the Eleventh 
Massachusetts Light Battery, commanded by Major E. 
J. Jones, stationed in Fort P'riend, between the Dunn 
House Battery and General Willcox's headquarters. 
This battery had been relieved from duty in Fort 
McGilvery only the night before, for three days' rest 
in the rear, and did not get into position until nearly 
midnight. Major Jones informs the writer that before 
daylight some of the Union troops had aroused him 
with the information that the enemy had broken through 
the lines, bringing in at the same time five prisoners as 
proof of their statements. These prisoners he placed for 
a time in the ditch under guard, but afterwards sent them 
to General Willcox with the information they had commu- 
nicated. He then took his guns out of Fort Friend, 



36 THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 

placed them on the edge of the ravine, and depressed 
them to such an angle as would permit him to hurl 
canister into the advancing column of the enemy. From 
his commanding position his fire did great execution, and 
he continued to pour fire into and around Fort Stedman 
upon any body of the enemy which made its appearance. 
Soon afterwards two guns of the Nineteenth New York 
Light Battery, and two of Battery G, First New York 
Artillery, were put in position on his immediate left, and 
cooperated with him in covering the troops. 

The advances of the enemy to our right and rear having 
been checked, let us now follow the movements of the 
third column, which, after the capture of Fort Stedman, as 
we have seen, turned down the left and rear of the Union 
lines. About daylight this column advanced for the 
second time, according to the report of the commanding 
ofiicer of the Twenty-ninth Massachusetts, attacking that 
portion of the regiment which had been deployed in rear of 
Battery Eleven, in front, flank, and rear, in such over- 
whelming force that those who were not captured made 
their escape toward Fort Haskell. The enemy next en- 
countered the Fifty-ninth Massachusetts, which, according 
to General McLaughlin's statement, before quoted, was 
placed in Battery Eleven after the Twenty-ninth Massa- 
chusetts had been driven out in the first attack. The 
commanding ofiicer of the Fifty-ninth^ reports that when 
he was ordered to take possession of Battery Eleven it was 

1 Major Ezra P. Gould. Massachusetts Adjutant-Genei'al's Keport, 1865. 



THE BATTLE OF FORT ST ED MAN. 37 

done with but little difficulty, as the enemy had left the 
place apparently in search of larger game. But on going 
out very soon after in search of General McLaughlin (who 
had been captured), he found that the lines on either side 
of him were deserted, while the enemy, in a long line, 
completely outflanking his position, were advancing in 
his rear. It was a critical moment, and there was only 
one escape, and by his orders the regiment leaped over the 
breastworks in front and retreated between the enemy's 
lines and our own to Fort Haskell. 

Continuing the attack toward the Union left, the 
enemy next came in contact with the One Hundredth 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, a veteran, and particularly 
gallant, regiment. This regiment, or a portion of it, 
was quickly drawn out of the trenches and deployed 
perpendicularly to the main line, to check the advancing 
enemy, who was now bent on the capture of Fort Haskell. 
The fight was hot and bloody, and Lieutenant-Colonel 
Pentecost, commanding the regiment, was killed. The 
greater portion of the Third Brigade, located on the right 
of Fort Haskell, which had escaped capture, had, by this 
time, retired to Fort Haskell, which now had a strong 
force in addition to the regular garrison, made up of the 
remnant of the brigade which had taken refuge there. 

In the meantime, as we have seen, the Two Hundred 
and Eighth Pennsylvania, of Hartranft's Division, with 
Colonel Diven, the brigade commander, had gone from 
its camp near the Avery House to General McLauglilin's 



38 THE BATTLE OF FORT S TED MAN. 

headquarters, where it was placed in a good position 
facing northward, at nearly a right angle with the main 
line on the right of headquarters, the left resting within 
one hundred yards of Fort Haskell, between which and 
the Two Hundred and Eighth Regiment had been placed 
two detachments of McLaughlin's brigade, numbering 
about two hundred in all, including a portion of the 
One Hundredth Pennsylvania and the Third Maryland, 
making the line continuous to Fort Haskell.^ The Two 
Hundred and Eighth Regiment, upon arriving on the 
ground, discovered the enemy, and immediately fired two 
or three well-directed volleys, causing him to fall back 
in some confusion to the cover of a ravine. The regiment 
then advanced and drove him out of the ravine to the 
cover of Battery Twelve and the lines of works con- 
necting it with Fort Stedman, capturing about one 
hundred prisoners. Reinforcements from the remainder of 
the Third Brigade, now commanded by Colonel Robinson, 
Third Maryland Volunteers, were soon brought into line 
from the left of Fort Haskell, and the line was sub- 
sequently reinforced by a second line, consisting of the 
One Hundred and Ninth New York and Thirty-seventh 

1 After placing the Two Hundred and Eighth Regiment in position, Captain 
Prosper Dalien, Two Hundred and Eighth Regiment, engineer on the staif of 
General Hartranft, in attempting to join the General, received a mortal wound. 
He was an officer of much experience and promise. A native of France, he was 
educated at the Military School at St. Cyr, and sei-ved throughout the Italian 
war as lieutenant of cavalry. He was brevetted captain, and presented by 
Napoleon III. with two medals for gallant conduct at Solfcrino. 



THE BATTLE OF FORT STED}fAN. 39 

Wisconsin, from Colonel Harriinan's (First) Brigade, in 
obedience to standing orders that in the event of the 
line being broken at any point the brigade commanders 
should take out troops where they could best be spared 
from their respective fronts, and attack the flanks of the 
enemy. 

The enemy made three attacks to obtain possession of 
Fort Haskell, which were handsomely repulsed by the 
garrison and the troops in the rear. The force in Fort 
Haskell was large, and the men who could not get into 
position to fire, loaded the muskets and passed them to 
those who stood along the parapet as fast as they could 
be fired. A lieutenant of the One Hundi-edth Pennsyl- 
vania states that he fired more than one hundred and 
fifty shots in a few minutes during the assaults. Thus a 
steady, well-directed fire of musketry was kept up, while 
the Third New Jersey Light Battery and First Connecti- 

NOTE. — Major R. C. Eden, Thh-ty-seventh Rpgiment, Wisconsin Volunteers 
(First Brigade, First Division, Ninth A. C), in Histoiy of that regiment, page 44 
et seq., saj'S : " On the morning of the 25th of March we were aroused by the 
sound of three shots fired in rapid succession from the rebel Hues. . . 
Meantime the batteries on either side had opened, and were keeping up a veiy 
lively interchange of missiles; close on our right the second brigade was evidently 
warmly engaged. . . . After a few minutes we were ordered to the right of 
the brigade, and di-awn up on the think, at right angles to the main line of works. 
. . . Bight in our front, on an eminence on the opposite side of a ravine, was 
Fort Stedman. In and around this a fierce fight was going on, and to the rear of 
it were to be seen flashes, indicating that sharp skirmishing was going on in the 
direction of Meade Station. The truth was at once apparent, ... the enemy 
was now pushing for the City Point Railroad, and, perhaps, City Point iUelf ; in 
fact, our lines were broken." 



40 THE BATTLE OF FOBT S TED MAN. 

cut Heavy Artillery inflicted great loss upon the enemy. 
The attacks having been repulsed, the enemy slowly 
retired along the line of trenches which he had captured, 
and proceeded to plunder the camps, finding generous 
rations of meat, coffee, bread, and sugar, which for months 
had been sadly needed. He was not, however, permitted 
to enjoy this luxury for any considerable time or to with- 
draw without molestation ; for soon the troops from and 
in rear of Fort Haskell moved forward, firing heavy 
volleys, and pushed steadily through the trenches, all 
uniting in driving him slowly but surely toward Fort 
Stedman.^ 

Meanwhile Hartranft's Second Brigade had not been 
idle. From its camp on the left, three to four miles 
distant from the scene of action, it had hurried on the 
double-quick to the Avery House, and at the very moment 
when General Hartranft had concluded that its presence 
was demanded, two regiments — the Two Hundred and 
Fifth and Two Hundred and Seventh Pennsylvania — 
were being conducted through a ravine running north- 
ward from the Avery House to a point directly in rear of 

' Narratives of the action in and around Fort Haskell have been written 
by Lieut. James H. Stevenson, One Hundredth Pennsylvania Volunteei-s, and 
George L. Kilmer, Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery. The former was 
published in the Newcastle (Penn.) " Courant," 1885 ; the latter, in " The Cen- 
tui-y Magazine," September, 1887. While these narratives contain interesting and 
vivid descriptions of the battle at this point, it is evident that the writers were 
entirely unaware of the serious nature of the conflict on the right of Fort Stedman, 
or the desperate fighting by the troops of the Third Division in its rear. 



THE BATTLE OF FORT STED3fAN: 41 

Fort Stedman, entirely unobserved by the enemy, and 
took position under an abrupt bank which, though near 
the enemy, completely sheltered them from his fire. 

The other regiment of this brigade, tlie Two Hundred 
and Eleventh Pennsylvania, on account of the greater dis- 
tance of its camp from the rear of Fort Stedman, was last 
in reaching the ground, and was placed in position on the 
high land covering Meade Station, and in support of the 
artillery. 

The situation at this time — 7.30 A.M. — was as fol- 
lows : Batteries Eleven and Twelve had been regained, 
and a cordon of troops had been drawn around the rear of 
Fort Stedman and Battery Ten, forcing the masses of the 
enemy back into those works, where they were exposed to, 
and suffered greatly from, a concentrated fire from all the 
artillery in position bearing upon those points, and from 
the batteries on the hill in the rear. This fire covered the 
space in front of the enemy's lines with such a shower of 
missiles as to prevent any effort on Ids part to reinforce 
the attacking columns, and render any attempt at escape 
extremely hazardous. The cordon of troops was composed 
of Hartranft's Division and that portion of Willcox's 
Division which had formed at right angles with the 
entrenchments. The troops on the Union left faced 
nearly northward, those on the right nearly south, wliile 
Hartranft's Second Brigade, as yet undiscovered by the 
enemy, and the Two Hundredth Regiment, faced nearly 
westward. " Thus were formed," says General Hart- 



42 THE BATTLE OF FORT S TED MAN. 

ranft, "two solid wing dams to check the enemy from 
sweeping the lines in the rear to the north or south. 
There was still a distance of three hundred yards between 
the left of the Two Hundredth and the right of the Two 
Hundred and Fifth, through which ran the road to Meade 
Station, uncovered ; but any further advance of the enemy 
in that direction was impossible." 

General Hartranft also says : " The time and opportunity 
to make these dispositions, were due entirely to the stub- 
born courage of the Two Hundredth Regiment. Lieut.- 
Colonel McCall had reason to be proud of the regiment he 
handled that morning so gallantly and skilfully. Its 
courage and steadiness undoubtedly saved that part of the 
army severe punishment. It is reported that the Duke of 
Wellinsfton said that his test of a soldier was not whether 
he would run, but whether he would run and come back. 
Here were troops never before in action, who not only 
rallied promptly within fifty yards of where a concentric 
fire of artillery and musketry had broken them, but had 
resolutely recharged and held an advanced position for 
twenty minutes, and when fairly forced back by superior 
weight, re-rallied promptly on the first available ground. 
No veterans could have done better. Although they did 
not know it at the time, and were apparently awaiting the 
attack of a superior force, they had captured Fort Sted- 
man in that twenty minutes' fight. The brave fellows 
who lay around the camp of the Fifty-seventh Massachu- 
sptts had not fallen in vain." 



THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 43 

At 7.30 A.M. General Hartranft received an order to 
retake the lines. His plan of attack was instantly 
adopted. Orders were sent out that an assault would be 
made by the whole division in fifteen minutes, and that 
the signal of the charge would be the advance of the Two 
Hundred and Eleventh Regiment from the hill in the 
rear toward Fort Stedman, in line of battle in full view 
of the enemy. This was done with the intention and 
expectation of attracting the attention and drawing the 
fire of the enemy, and cover the movement of the remain- 
der of the force which was to carry the works. Fort 
Stedman was now literally swarming with the enemy, who 
crowded parapets, bomb-proofs, and trenches. The ruse 
was a complete success. The enemy, seeing the advance 
of this regiment, numbering about six hundred muskets, 
in such handsome and gallant style, began to waver ; and 
the remainder of the troops, responding to the signal, rose 
to the charge with a will. With loud cheers and in a 
most gallant manner they sprang from the ravine, where 
some had been secreted, and from the lines they had so 
courageously held, troops of the First and Third Divisions 
together, and dashed forward. Artillery and musketry 
opened upon them ; but the enemy was brushed away in 
disorder, and in another moment Fort Stedman and the 
batteries, and the entire lines which had been lost, were 
recaptured, and the Stars and Stripes once more 
proudly floated where but a few moments before the 
Stars and Bars had so defiantly waved. 



44 THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 

After the troops had commenced moving to make the 
assault, General Hartranft received orders not to make it 
until a division of the Sixth Corps, which was on its way 
to support him, had arrived ; but he saw that success was 
certain, and it was doubtful if he could have communi- 
cated with the regiments on the flanks in time to counter- 
mand the order. He therefore allowed the line to charge. 

As early as half-past six o'clock General Parke had 
ordered the Provisional Brigade at army headquarters to 
report to him, and directed General Warren to move the 
Fifth Corps in the direction of Fort Stedman. General 
Wright, at his direction, had ordered the division of Gen- 
eral Wheaton to move to the threatened point. He moved 
promptly, but about the time he reached Ninth Corps 
headquarters the line had been recaptured. 

In all the operations of the morning valuable and dis- 
tinguished services were rendered General Hartranft by the 
various officers of the Ninth Corps Staff, prominent among 
■whom, on that occasion, were Generals Charles G. Loring 
and Van Buren, and Colonel R. H. I. Goddard. Colonel 
Thomas Wm. Clarke, Adjutant General to General 
McLaughlin, Major Levi C. Brackett, Aide-de-camp to 
General Willcox, and Major George Shorkley, Assistant 
Inspector-General, Third Division (who was severely 
wounded), rendered conspicuous and gallant service. 
During the final attack Colonel Diven, commanding the 
First Brigade of Third Division, was wounded, and the 
command of the brigade devolved upon Lieutenant- 



THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 45 

Colonel Wm. H. H. McCall, Two Hundredth Penn- 
sylvania. 

Tlie trophies of the brilliant victory at Fort Stedman 
were one thousand nine hundred and forty-nine prisoners, 
including seventy-one commissioned officers, nine stands 
of colors, and a very large number of small-arms. On the 
Union side not a color or a piece of artillery was lost. All the 
guns in the lines were recaptured. One Coehorn mortar 
had been taken over the parapet of Battery Ten, and car- 
ried as far as the Union picket line and there abandoned. 

The loss of the enemy has never been officially reported. 
That it was very heavy, there can be no doubt. General 
Grimes, who commanded Gordon's leading division, reports 
in his published letters a loss of four hundred and seventy- 
eight in his division alone. Captain Phisterer, in the 
" Statistical Record," Vol. XIII., Scribner's " Campaigns 
of the Civil War," p. 218, states the loss of the enemy — 
killed, wounded, and missing — to be two thousand six 
hundred and eighty-one. 

Soon after the recapture of the lines. Major H. Kyd 
Douglass, General Gordon's adjutant-general, appeared 
in front of Fort Stedman with a flag of truce to ask per- 
mission to remove the Confederate dead from the space 
between the lines. The request was granted; and a truce 
prevailed nearly all day on that portion of the lines, 
during which one hundred and twenty dead and fifteen 
badly wounded lying between the Imes were removed by 
the enemy. 



46 



THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 



The Union loss, officially reported, was as follows 



Second Brigade 
Third Brigade 



First Brigade 
Second Brigade 



First Division. 

Killed. Wounded. MiBsing. Total. 

4 26 19 49 

34 135 430 599 



161 



449 



25 



223 



648 



Third Division. 

Killed. Wounded. Missing. Total. 

23 197 220 

2 36 38 



258 



Killed. Wounded. Missing. Total. 
Batteries in the lines .... 10 21 60 91 

Artillery Brigade 2 4 14 20 

Aggregate.— Killed, 75; Wounded, 419; Missing, 523; Total, 1,017.' 



It may be regarded as an incident worthy of record 
that the final victorious charge of the troops was witnessed 
by President Lincoln from the high ground near the Dunn 

1 Captain Phisterer, in the volume referred to, reports the number of battles dur- 
ing the Civil War to be 2,261. In one hundred and forty-nine the total loss was 
five hundred or more on the side of the Union troops. In this number the battle 
of Fort Stedman ranks as ninety-one, the Union loss being stated to be nine hun- 
dred and eleven. The loss as officially reported, however, was one thousand and 
seventeen, which raises its rank to number eighty-two. In some of the battles 
where the Union loss is reported to be greater than that at Stedman, the casualties 
are given approximateh^, or in round numbers, or cover a series of engagements, 
as cavah-y raids, etc. Omitting these, the place of Stedman in the list of the bat- 
tles where the loss is precisely stated is seventy-seven. 

In but forty-three of the l)attles in which the casualties of the Confederates 
are stated do their losses exceed the number reported at Fort Stedman (2,681). 



THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAIf. 47 

House Battery. He had passed the previous night at City 
Point with Generals Grant and Meade, and a review had 
been arranged in honor of his visit to the army. The 
attack of the enemy at Stedman, and the subsequent ad- 
vance of the Union lines on the left, rendered a change of 
programme necessary. While intently watching the surg- 
ing charge of Hartranft's line, he is reported to have said, 
" This is better than a review." Later in the day, how- 
ever, he was honored with a review. The Fifth Corps 
had been removed from its camp and sent over to the right, 
to be available for the support of the Ninth. Its services 
not being required, it was returning, and was halted for 
review by the President. That being over, it was hurried 
to the left, where General Wright was just then receiving 
a counter-attack from the enemy. " Thus, at nearly the 
same time, our lines presented the curious picture of a 
battle won and a truce prevailing on the right, a review 
in rear of the centre, and a severe engagement at the 
left." 

Of all the gallant officers and men who performed their 
duty faithfully and well on that memorable morning, and 
of those who fought their last battle and sealed their devo- 
tion to the nation's cause with their blood, it is impossible 
to speak. And yet it may not be deemed invidious praise 
to mention one who particularly distinguished himself 
under most trying circumstances. While refraining from 
criticism, censure, or praise of the action of others, we but 
record accepted fact in the statement that the special 



48 THE BATTLE OF FORT ST ED MAN. 

honors of the battle were worthily won and generously 
bestowed upon General Hartranft, the commander of the 
Third Division. General Parke says : " General Hart- 
ranft, to whom I had confided the task of recapturing the 
fort, made his dispositions with great coolness and skill. 
Too much credit cannot be given for the 
skill in handling his division and gallantry in leading it 
displayed by him." In this action he exhibited upon 
the dark background of disaster the brilliant qualities 
he had previously displayed on many a bloody field. He 
was equal to the great emergency, and manifested not 
only the military skill requisite to the command of a 
large division, but the nerve to fight a single regiment 
and lead it into the hottest fire. But for his oppor- 
tune arrival in front of the Dunn House Battery with 
the Two Hundredth Regiment, just in season to check 
the advance of the enemy's line, it is impossible to state 
what might have been the result. His fierce attack 
upon the head of the enemy's column prevented its deploy- 
ment, and gave time for the regiments on the right and 
left to take strong positions. Had the enemy succeeded 
in gaining the high ground in rear of our main lines, the 
sequel of that morning's assault would have been far dif- 
ferent. That this opinion was shared by his commanders 
may be judged from their subsequent action. Immediately 
after the battle General Parke recommended that General 
Hartranft be brevetted Major-General, for ability and gal- 
lantry displayed that day. General Meade replied that he 



THE BATTLE OF FORT STEDMAN. 49 

had already forwarded a similar recommendation, and that 
his request for this special honor had been anticipated by 
General Grant and the Secretary of War. He received at 
once the reward so nobl}'' won, and the act of justice was 
applauded by the entire army. 

General orders were issued by General Meade con- 
gratulating General Parke on the prompt measures taken 
by him, praising the firm bearing of the troops of 
the Ninth Corps in the adjacent portions of the lines 
broken by the enemy, and the conspicuous bravery of the 
Third Division, for the first time under fire, together with 
the energy and skill displayed by General Hartranft, 
which quickly repaired a serious disaster and drove the 
enemy from our lines with heavy losses. 

Thus was Stedman recovered, the last desperate thrust 
of the Confederate army successfully parried, and the 
disaster of the Mine avenged I Nine days later the Stars 
and Stripes waved over Petersburg and Richmond, and in 
six days more, at Appomattox Court House, seventy- 
seven miles west of Petersburg, on Palm Sunday, April 9, 
at 3.30 P.M., the Army of Northern Virginia surren- 
dered. Fifteen days from Stedman to Appomattox ! On 
the morning of the twenty-fifth of March, what prophetic 
eye beheld that vision? Is it possible that the great 
commander of the Union armies, in his profoundest 
anticipations, — " forecasting how his foe he might an- 
noy," — could trace the brilliant pathway which led to 
such gigantic results? 



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